November 24, 2023

Correcting common billing errors

Doctors of BC and BC Family Doctors continue to work with the Ministry of Health to improve, expand, and develop tools and support for the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) Payment Model. We continue to listen to your feedback, meeting regularly with the provincial government to address concerns. To submit questions or feedback, please email FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca.

Today, we are sharing some common billing errors and how to correct them. Our goal is to help you understand the LFP Payment Schedule so that you can bill accurately, protect yourself from an audit, and receive timely payment.

In addition, we are providing important information to support you including:

Panel payment timing.
How to submit newborns as part of your panel.

Important Billing Reminders

The LFP Payment Model is a new way of billing that is significantly different from Fee-for-Service. There are a few common billing errors that have been noted by MSP/HIBC that we are sharing to help you improve your billing.

Billing fee-for-service codes on the same day as LFP codes

Start and end times are required for all fee-for-service codes submitted on the same date of service as any LFP time and patient interaction codes.

Please note: As of December 1, 2023, fee-for-service codes submitted to MSP Teleplan without start and end times on the same day as LFP time and patient interaction codes will be refused. These refused claims will appear on your remittance statement with explanatory code “GP.” You will need to resubmit these claims with start and end times to receive payment.

Examples of fee-for-service codes that require start/end times include:

Care provided outside of the LFP Clinic (e.g. hospital, long-term care)
Care for patients from other provinces, except Quebec. (Physicians charge services for Quebec residents directly to the patient.)
ICBC services
WorkSafeBC services

Please see Section 32 of the LFP Payment Schedule for more information.

Billing fee-for-service codes at the LFP Clinic

Physicians who are enrolled in the LFP Payment Model cannot bill fee-for-service codes for patient care provided via the LFP Clinic or in a patient’s home.

Examples include the following fee codes:

Chronic Disease Management: 14050, 14051, 14052, 14053
Complex Care: 14033, 14075
Mental Health: 00120-series, 14043, 14044-14048
Anticoagulation (INR) advice: 00043
Communication & Conferencing: 13706, 14067, 14077, 14078
Injections & Immunizations provided by an Allied Care Provider
Tray fees

You can bill fee-for-service codes for care provided for patients in other settings, such as a long-term care, hospital, or a different clinic location. You can only bill these codes for services in the LFP Clinic if related to an Excluded Service as noted in Section 14 of the LFP Payment Schedule.

Please see the 98000 Registration Code in the LFP Payment Schedule for more information.

Billing for Chronic Disease Management and Care Planning

You can provide care planning and chronic disease management at any time during the year for all patients who require this in your clinical judgement. This includes patients who were previously not eligible for chronic disease management and complex fee codes.

Under the LFP Payment Model, this care is billable as follows:

The patient interaction is billable using the appropriate patient interaction code;
The time spent providing patient care with the patient present is included as part of the total direct patient care time billed over the day using 98010; and,
Care planning and other related work done without the patient present is billable as part of the total indirect patient care time billed over the day using 98011.

You also receive a panel payment based on the number of empanelled patients and the complexity of those patients.

Where to get more billing information

Detailed billing information is available on the BC Family Doctors website, including the Simplified LFP Guide and Billing Question Library.

For questions related to billing, please contact FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca.
For questions about your remittance statement, please contact MSP by phone at (604) 456-6950 or 1-866-456-6950.

Upcoming panel payment

The panel payment is paid out four times per year and is remitted to eligible physicians by MSP Teleplan.

The Quarter 3 panel payment instalment will be remitted to eligible physicians on November 30, 2023. If you have any questions, please contact FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca.

Detailed FAQs on panel payments can be found in the BC Family Doctors Billing Question Library.

Patient panel submissions for newborns

Please wait for newborns to be issued their own personal health number (PHN) before submitting them with your panel list. Please do not submit newborns under the mother’s PHN.

Need more information?

Write us

Email: FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca

View our information online (member login required)

Doctors of BC: doctorsofbc.ca/new-payment-model
BC Family Doctors: https://bcfamilydocs.ca/lfp-payment-model/
BC Government website: gov.bc.ca/MSP/LFP (login not required)